Nicole Takalo and Kara Burghardt

Takalo and Burghardt’s innovative teaching idea, “Sensory Spaces for All,” will create sensory spaces for students to increase engagement in learning activities and attendance in the general education setting. With the Voya Unsung Heroes grant, the teachers will design grade-appropriate spaces that will contain smaller items like building bricks, putty and sand, as well as larger items like swings, climbing apparatuses, or large body movement equipment. The goal is for students to be taught how to identify the need for a sensory break, either by self-recognition or by explicit teaching. Students will learn how to make choices to help bring their bodies back to a learning ready state, which will ultimately help them achieve academic expectations.